Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel

Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel is a quick copycat recipe that can easily be made at home with under 10 ingredients!

You know how people recall stories of baguettes from the street corners of artisanal markets of Paris as if they were life changing? Stories of fresh pasta in Italy and authentic wines in Spain that leave you salivating, but often writing it off as hyperbole and a bit of a traveler’s high. I was right there with you, a skeptic at best though amused and inspired by the tales, often dreaming of my own European adventure. I’d already enjoyed street food in Peru, gelato in Cambodia, and seafood from coast to coast of the United States, but could I really believe that the baked goods and classic recipes of Europe were as marvelous as everyone had made them seem? Or did the ambiance and fond memories have a lot to do with the recollections?

One morning, I found myself walking the streets of Braubach, during a short visit while sailing from Amsterdam to Budapest with my friend on a Viking River Cruise. It was a cool November morning and the town was quiet. Most of the other tourists from the ship had taken a bus back to the port after a tour of the impressive Marksburg Castle, but we decided a quick walk through the pictures half-timbered homes in the small German village was needed before another cruise along the river.

We excitedly tucked our heads in and out of alleys snapping photos and enjoying the air before we found ourselves led by our noses to a cafe and bakery. After marveling over the assortment of buttery layers, flakey pastries, cream fillings and chocolate drizzles to the amusement of the staff, we ordered two cakes and coffees. One was a thick slice of decadent looking cake with glazed strawberries piled atop cake with a thick middle layer of cream. The other, a slice of a traditional apple pie. Thin slices of crisp apples arranged in between two thin layers of pastry crust with a glaze that promised to flake apart beneath my fork.

My fork slid through the layers of the strawberry cake, and shockingly, given how thick everything appeared, it was the lightest cake and cream filling I’d ever tasted. Then came the apple cake. Not being a huge fan of fruit based desserts, I took a small slice off the pie and tasted what was to be the first of many of those life changing cuisines. The bites and flavors that fill the stories we bring home with an almost fictional level of devotion. It was there in that small cafe in Germany that I feel in love with the European pastries that I’d often seen recreated and replicated in bakeries back home.

From there it was a whirlwind tour of Rhine wines, Bavarian pretzels, blood sausages, Hefeweizen, crepes, one short-lived exploration in schnapps, and even pizza at an outdoor eatery. Every city our cruise docked at was a challenge to discover a small local purveyor and new flavor I’d yet to try and only affirmed my love affair with global flavors. But nothing, nothing topped those apple filled pastries.

My Puff Pastry Apple Strudel creation

Now this recipe for Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel isn’t a traditional recipe by any means. There was no practice and skilled hands of a grandma showing me how to get the perfect butter folds in dough. This apple strudel was a quick and easy recreation for a fond memory with simple ingredients back home. It was delicious, and I hope you try this recipe. Share a slice with a friend over coffee and lose yourself in memories of trips past or excitement in adventures yet to come.

I know that you are used to seeing more savory dishes from me than pastries, but this girl bakes. You probably don’t know what you’ve been missing, so check out these recipes! Dessert is on me!

If you’ve tried my Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel recipe or any other recipe on passthesushi.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also follow along for more good eats and travel tips on Instagram@passthesushi & @girlcarnivore, Twitter& Facebook.

Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel

Yield: 1 Strudel

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Puff Pastry Austrian Apple Strudel Recipe is a quick copycat recipe that can be made at home with under 10 ingredients!

Ingredients

1 puff pastry

1 can apple pie filling

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp allspice

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted and chopped

8 tbsp whipped cream cheese

1 egg white, beaten

½ cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tbsp milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a clean work surface, roll out the puff pastry with a rolling pin to create a long thin rectangle, about 12 to 14 inches on the long end. Transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet.

Spread the whipped cream cheese in a long rectangle 3” wide in the center of the pastry.

Mix all but ¼ cup of the apple pie filling in a bowl with the vanilla and allspice. Spoon over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle ½ of the toasted walnuts over the pie filling.

In 1” segments, slice the puff pastry at an angle from the filling to the edges on the long sides.

Fold the top and bottom up over the edges of the filling and tuck the slices back and forth over one another, pinching gently.

Brush the pastry with the beaten egg white and bake for 25 to 27 minutes, until golden and fluffy. Some of the filling may have oozed out of the pockets, and that is ok. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining ¼ apple pie filling in a small saucepan and mash.

Spoon the mashed apples out along the center of the pastry and top with the remaining chopped walnuts.

Finally, whisk the milk and powdered sugar together in a bowl to create a glaze.

Comments

Oh man your description of eating it there makes me melt. I need to make this for sure! As for homemade puff pastry, I’ve only done it once and it was a decent result but the store bought stuff is still better than my skill level haha.